Get well vibes needed please for Pippin :(

Had to take Pippin to the vets this morning as he seemed a bit withdrawn and his temperature was a bit low. He had eaten his pellet first thing, but hadn't touched his veg. I tried to tempt him with some banana (his favourite), but was not interested. I tried to get him to move around a bit, but he just wanted to lie down/hunch up in a box in the corner of the room After loosing our last bun to stasis, I am uber paranoid about Pip not eating, or generally not himself so rang the vets straight away & got him down there.

She confirmed my worst fear, which is that Pip has a small bloat in his gut. He's been there all day and am still sat waiting for them to ring to let me know if they will keep him overnight or let him come home for us to look after & syringe feed him. She said it seemed odd that he was so sullen & depressed as the bloat was in the very early stages. Fingers crossed we have caught it in time, but I know how poor the prognosis generally is with bloat. Hoping get well vibes will help!

Oh bless him, I really hope it doesn't develop, sending lots of get well vibes for the lovely Pippin

Sending lots of vibes for pippin x thinking of you both x x

Please let us know his progress, bless him.

You have caught it early which is a really good start.

Did they say what course of treatment they are giving him?

Keeping everything crossed for Pippin.

Please keep us posted.

Thank you all! Pippin has done really well today We have just been to collect him and he is much better

He has been given fluids and various other medication which we will have to continue with. We are now armed with Metacam for pain relief, Zantac and Emeprid, and he has to have all 3 twice a day. We've been told to try to tempt him with foods we know he loves, but he might not eat too much as he has had quite a lot of syringe feed at the vets. They also said to try to keep him moving, so I think we'll have to let him run riot up and down the stairs, which he loves. We've got him booked back into the vets tomorrow morning just to check that everything is still going the way it should.

He's only been home a few minutes and has already had a good sniff around and has taken some treat bits from my husband's hand and is now having a wash We're going to keep a close eye on him tonight, but he's totally different from this morning. The vets said that he kept trying to escape from his cage this afternoon, and when they did let him out, they had a job catching him again! That's my boy!

Thanks for all your kind wishes
Emily x

Yayyyy for Pippin.

I am so pleased he is home and eating fine.

Can you think of anything that might have triggered it? It often happens for no reason at all, but its worth a think about just in case.

Deffo a good idea to keep him moving about and get some fibrous foods into him. Blackberry leaves are very good for their tummies, as are pear twigs.

Plenty of fluid too to prevent dehydration.

Sending nose rubs!

Thanks Katieb! Not sure what's caused it as we haven't given him anything we wouldn't normally. The only thing I can think of is that his routine has changed slightly this week as we have been on holiday, which is just as well as we wouldn't have spotted it so soon today if we had been a work.

Thanks for the tips about the blackberry leaves and pear twigs, I will have to see if I can find some. He's got both a water bottle and bowl tonight as well, just to make sure it's easy for him to get a drink.

He gave us such a fright today, I'm so relieved he seems to be over the worst of it! Can't thank our vets enough, we're really lucky to have rabbit specialist vets near us!

My bun is prone to bouts of stasis - but not bloat though.

My top tip would be to always have a few sachets of critical care in the house and some syringes.

Warm water and Critical care work wonders with daisy...I dont know what you should do when they bloat but certainly if they just stop eating it helps.

What a fright he has given you! There is nothing quite like bunny worry!

They do like to keep is on our toes don't they. Your vet sounds very good. Hopefully Pippin is well on his way to recovery now x

Our vets are fantastic! He's just been back for a check up this morning and seems to be doing well. He's chomping on lots of veg and hey and is now passing almost normal sized pellets Unfortunately though, I was left on my own to try to syringe his medicine this morning, and it was incredibly difficult! The little blighter wouldn't take it & kept trying to cheek it! Not helped by the fact that I am 28 weeks pregnant and am not as mobile as I could be and so every time he wriggled free I had to chase after him!! Think tonight I might try mixing his medicine with banana and see if he takes it willingly

that's brilliant news

No, they don't like taking their medicine to they Jay love? I am so glad he is better and please give him a nose rub from me.

Hugs

Jo xx

Good to hear that he is doing so well. It is really difficult at time to get them to take their meds, but I have always found that mixing it with bananas works best. x

Glad Pippin is doing well one of our Nethies 'Chudleigh Flint' get's very bad bloat a lot and the last time we nearly lost him he was so seriously ill he came home from the vet's Bless him wrapped in Bubble wrap as his temperature was very low and we had to give him Vetergesic.s.c. every 6 hours, Zantac every 12 hours, Metoclop every 8 hours and Metacam every 12-24 hours. It took just over a week till he fully recovered. It's an awful thing bloat.

Hope Pippin continues to get better xxxxx

How is he today dear?

Hugs

Jo xx

Hi everyone and thanks again for your kind wishes I was a little worried about Pippin yesterday as he hadn't passed any droppings from about 11am, so I rang the emergency vet at about 4. He said that if he had been syringe fed, there sometimes isn't much fibre in there, so it can take a little while for things to pass through, is this correct? He's done a few droppings today and has been in the garden eating grass and he has had a chomp on hey and a few veggies aswell.

Tuckerbunnies - I'm pleased to hear that someone else has experienced this with a positive outcome as I know how horrible and frightening this condition is. According to the vets, he only had a very mild case of bloat, and the fact that it was caught early obviously makes it easier to treat. We've been giving him his medicine, which he hates (and wouldn't even take mixed with banana strangely enough!), and the course finishes on Weds. I am toying with the idea of getting him in at our vets tomorrow just for another check up as I am totally paranoid! But if you say it took Chudleigh Flint about a week to fully recover, should I just make sure he's eating well and still going to the toilet? I think the thing that worries me at the moment is that my husband and I are both due to go back to work tomorrow and so I can't keep as close an eye on him.

Thanks for your advice and support everyone! I don't think people who have never had rabbits understand the worry and responsibility we have for such a vulnerable animal.

Hugs, nose rubs and kisses for little Pippin.

People dont really understand unfortunately. To most its "just a rabbit" and its very sad.

I think its important to always go with your gut instinct. A bunny's mum (or dad) knows them best and you should follow your feelings.

That said when daisy is in stasis - we have to weigh up the benefit of taking him against the stress of taking him to the vets. Sometimes this can send him backwards. But If you are at all worried then you should take him.

If he is eating this is a really good sign. Sometimes when their little tums have shut down things are slower going through for a while and it can take a little time for them to speed up again. I would deffo keep on with the syringe feeding if you dont feel he is eating enough to keep his tum ticking over.

I know how horrid it is when you have to go back to work and leave them - I would try and spend some time getting him moving around and eating before you head off and make sure the litter tray is empty before you leave so you can see how much poo he has done during the day.

Sending nose rubs and more vibes so that he keeps recovering. x x

Thanks Katie, will see how he goes for the rest of this afternoon & get him running up and down the stairs again later to see if that helps get things moving. You're right, it is weighing up whether the stress is worth it. Thank you! xx